Diana Fritillary 
Speyeria diana

Diana Fritillary is one of our most spectacular species and is uncommon in the Mountains, Ridge and Valley and Western Piedmont. It is primarily a mountain species, but it can be numerous in some years in the Ridge and Valley and down the western side of the state as far as LaGrange (Troup County) and likely into Harris County. Diana Fritillary is strongly sexually dimorphic with the orange and brown males appearing a week or so earlier than the blue females. The habitat is open hardwood forests with moist rich soil. The hostplants are Violets (Viola spp.). The eggs are not oviposited on violets but on dead leaves or twigs, with the caterpillars spending the winter in the detritus and seeking out violets to feed on when begin to sprout in the spring. (Butterflies of Georgia, Harris, 1972). There is one brood beginning in late May in West Georgia (Troup County, May 20), in early June in the Ridge and Valley (Bartow County June 4) and in mid-June in the Mountains (Fannin County, June 14). The late dates are in early September in West Georgia (Polk County, September 3) and in late September in the Mountains (September 21, Rabun County). Early Date: May 20 (Troup County); Late Date: September 21 (Rabun County). Conservation Status: Probably secure due to the protection of the Chattahoochee National Forest, Paulding Forest, Dawson Forest and other DNR lands in North Georgia, but caution is warranted regarding the destruction of habitat by logging.